Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Bernard Kettlewell was the first to investigate the evolutionary mechanism behind peppered moth adaptation, between 1953 and 1956. He found that a light-coloured body was an effective camouflage in a clean environment, such as in rural Dorset , while the dark colour was beneficial in a polluted environment like industrial Birmingham .
Peppered moth insularia on the bark of a lichen-covered birch. By the time of Kettlewell, it was known in England that there were three varieties of peppered moth. The normal, typica, is whitish-grey in colour with dark speckles on the wings. The colour was a perfect camouflage on light-coloured trees covered with lichens.
The peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a temperate species of night-flying moth. [1] It is mostly found in the northern hemisphere in places like Asia, Europe and North America. Peppered moth evolution is an example of population genetics and natural selection. [2] The caterpillars of the peppered moth not only mimic the form but also the ...
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell (24 February 1907 – 11 May 1979) [1] was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who performed research on the influence of industrial melanism on peppered moth (Biston betularia) coloration, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas.
Biston is a genus of large, long-winged moths belonging to the family Geometridae. It is most notable for containing the well-known peppered moth. The genus was first described by William Elford Leach in 1815.
The experiments with the peppered moths, as described in this book, are arguably the most dramatic and best known case of adaptive evolution.For many people at that time, this was the first evidence that they could see evolution taking place in the world around them, and could see how fast evolution can go since Darwin came up with the hypothesis (Kettlewell, 1959).
Between 1953 and 1956, the geneticist Bernard Kettlewell experimented on peppered moth evolution. He presented results showing that in a polluted urban wood with dark tree trunks, dark moths survived better than pale ones, causing industrial melanism , whereas in a clean rural wood with paler trunks, pale moths survived better than dark ones.
He was widely noted for his work on moths and ladybirds and as an advocate of the science of evolution. He was also an enthusiastic educator [1] [2] and the author of several books on insects, [3] [4] evolution [5] [6] and sexual reproduction. [7] He is best remembered as an ardent supporter and champion of experiments on peppered moth ...